Indian Middle Class Through Cinema

Depiction of Middle Class In Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films: Bawarchi Submitted in partial fulfillment of Imagining India To Prof. Rita Kothari

By Ila Khanolkar PGP 1, 2008-10 2008 86B

The middle class is defined in many ways by many researchers. Some call it the educated class of worksmen, while some call it the one which is neither higher class nor lower class that’s why middle class. But the origins of this class are very interesting. ‘Middle class’ is a phenomenon of industrialisation. It emerged when the owners of capital wanted people to work in their offices. As manufacturing industries grew, so did the tertiary activities like banking etc.The people who worked in these enterprises owned no property, were educated and were earning a decent income. They were different from the property owning moneyed upper class and they were also different from the blue collared industrial workers. There were different types of people in this middle class also, like the intelligentia or the professionals. This somewhat western definition of middle class does not quite fit into the Indian society. The British brought with themselves this whole class culture in India. Though class did exist in India before the advent of the Britishers, the caste system overshadowed it. It generally happened that the rich farmers or the military officials were the moneyed class and the workers, academicians, artisans were the lower class. But in the 18th century when the British introduced English education in India, they wanted to create a class of middlemen between the administration and the citizens. Thus the middle class became the educated, English speaking class of government employees who were in between the government and the people. And due to the growth of cities, impoverishment of the farmers’ etc migration from rural to the urban areas increased. The people coming to cities got jobs in tertiary industries and became a part of the middle class. Thus the middle class in India became an urban phenomenon as it is throughout the world. Class in many ways determines the boundaries of our consumption. The level of income of a person is the single biggest constraint of the consumption of that person. To a great extent the urban middle class is the defining class of

consumption in India. When i say consumption i don’t only mean material consumption. It also includes consumption of entertainment. The rich have many ways of entertainment and the poor don’t have the means to afford any entertainment. This leaves the middle class. Thus the kind of entertainment produced in the country was and is primarily for the middle class. The kind of films produced, the TV shows made were all directed towards the goal of middle –class entertainment. This is the reason why the films (specifically Hindi) depicted grandeur, underworld or poverty. Middle-class people were expected to turn to these films to get away from their tiring, mundane lives. The escapist thought was the foundation of these films. Through the 1950s and the 1960s films had a romantic angle to them. Romanticism has been a cornerstone of Hindi films till today. But in spite of this general trend of films there were film-makers who showed the reality on screen. This became a separate genre of film-making and one of the leading filmmakers of this genre was Hrishikesh Mukherji. The genre that I mentioned here was reality films. Though not formally defined anywhere, these films were a reflection of the society of that time. They were far away from the escapist cinema. They did not have exotic locations, fancy costumes or elaborate sets. The characters from these films were as close to any of us as they could be. It was as if they could be any one of us. Hrishikesh Mukherji made a total of 42 films in his illustrious career. He started his career with a not so successful film Musafir in 1957. But his second film Anari won several Filmfare awards in 1959. His string of films depicting the middle class which came out in the 1960s and 70s were the highlights of his career. These include Anupama, Anuradha, Bawarchi, Chupke Chupke, Golmaal, Mili, Guddi, Abhiman, Anand. There are many things which set his films apart from other films of that era. As mentioned earlier the characters in

his films were taken directly from everyday middle class life. The sets were just normal houses or outdoors in cities. The dialogues, music and the characterisation is what set his films apart from the rest. Believable characters were the cornerstone of his films. He made us digest the heavy truths of life with a sprinkling of comedy. Many of his films were comedies like Bawarchi, Chupke Chupke, Khubsoorat etc. He had great working relationships with many of the ‘stars’ of that era like Rajesh Khanna. Amitabh Bachchan, Jaya Bhaduri etc. With some others, he made ‘stars’ out of actors like Amol Palekar. Some things were very peculiar about his films. The dialogues & the music were always remarkable. A dialogue in Bawarchi encapsulates the essence of his style

‘It is simple to be happy but it is very difficult to be simple’. This is exactly what his films were all about. They were simple on the surface but had very deep meanings. If you understood those, you could only marvel at the genius of this man. Also, he had a very strong association with music. In all his movies there was one character who was engaged in music like Babboo in Bawarchi, Shyam in Golmaal, Manju in Khubsoorat etc. Nothing encapsulates the movies of Hrishida as he was fondly known as, as much as this song from one of his own movies - Zindagi kaisi hai paheli

haye... Kabhi to hasaye, kabhi to rulaye. His movies were indeed just like life kabhi khushi kabhi gam, very realistic and down-to-earth, unlike a movie of recent times with the same title. He portrayed human emotions in a very earthy manner. This meant there were no over the top emotional sequences, and melodrama which has been a characteristic feature of Hindi films till date. Death has been a very important character in his films. Though the focus of some of his films has been the looming fear of death, the emphasis was given

to life. This must be sounding weird, but then in Anand, which is the story of a man who has only a few days left, the entire film revolves around this man’s zest for life and how he manages to induce ‘life’ into the people around him. Again in Mili, the title character is dying, but her undying spirit is the highlight of the film. These dying characters actually taught living to those around them and to us also in some way. Anand is often considered to be Hrishida's chef-d'oeuvre, and it most certainly is one of the most sensitive movies ever made. Mili is just like Anand, someone who lives for the moment and doesn't despair about her impending end. But unlike Anand, in Mili death doesn't have the last word - Mili reinforces dreams and life. Both Anand and Mili in their own way ingeminate the same message - death or the knowledge of it doesn't necessarily have to mean the end; life is all about living. Two other films which distinctly stand out are Anupama and Anuradha. In Anuradha, Hrishida depicts the relationship between the husband and the wife with great sensitivity and understanding. Anupama has often been viewed as a heartbreaking tear-jerker that explores life and death through the eyes of a young woman who has lived as a burden to her estranged father. All these films though diametrically different from each other have a common thread running through them. The subtle humane bonds depicted in an everyday setting, something which may be anyone of our story is that thread. Now coming back to the issue to be addressed in this essay is the depiction of middle class in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s films. The best depictions of middle class with its subtle nuances are in Hrishida’s films. Be it Golmaal or Bawarchi, the setting of the film is in a middle class household. The professions of the characters, their mundane lives etc. is very middle class. When I say middle class here I mean that it can be set in any city in the country. That is the speciality of Bawarchi which in my opinion is one the most remarkable films on a middle class family and the relationships of the family members.

Bawarchi came out in 1972, with the then superstar Rajesh Khanna in the title role. The film opens with Amitabh Bachchan narrating the setting of the film. This story he says, can be set in any town of India. The story takes place in ‘Shanti Nivas’ the home of the Sharma family headed by the patriarch Shiv Nath Sharma. He is a retired post master. He built Shanti Nivas and named it after his wife. Here live his three sons, two daughters-in-law, three grand children and one on off servant. The servant or rather a cook is the central theme of the film and hence it’s called ‘Bawarchi’ which in Hindi means cook. This family is shown to be ever squabbling and hence cooks never seem to stay with them for long. The eldest son of Daduji or the patriarch is a clerk. His name is Ramnath Sharma. He is not very highly educated and hence earns a very basic salary. He is nearing his retirement. His wife being the elder daughter-in-law feels that she should get certain privileges in the house. Ram and Seeta (badi bahu) have one daughter Meeta who is a graduate and learns dance. She is a girl of modern outlook. This is evident from her dressing style and her ‘bouffant’ style hair. She also goes out for late night parties etc. Daduji’s second son Kashi is a scholar. He is a school teacher and hence also earns a basic salary. His wife Shobha is a very beautiful lady and hence no dowry was asked for her wedding. Kashi loves his wife very much and hence also feels that she should not do the household work. They have a son Pintoo who is around 4-5 years of age. Daduji’s third son Babbu is a music director who specialises in copying English tunes to Hindi music. Another important character is Krishna, who is the daughter of Daduji’s second son, who passed away in a car accident. She is shown pursuing her graduate studies and is a very homely and affable girl. She is the one everyone turns to when they have any task to finish. In the beginning of the film we see that the cook has left Shanti Nivas due to no peace of mind. He is shown saying that, the residents of Shanti Nivas are always quarrelling amongst themselves. Thus we see the

residents of Shanti Nivas waking up to no cook and thus summoning Krishna to make the morning tea. The two daughters-in-law are shown not wanting to do any household chores. Again when Krishna makes the tea and serves it to them in their rooms they take the whole episode as a matter of fact. This is very typical of a joint family which is living together not by choice. The reason Sharma family is together is that else Daduji will not leave the property to any of the brothers. Also, none of the brothers is earning enough to live separately. At least when they live together, the house rent is taken care of. Adjustments of such kind are very common in middle class families across the country. Again the scenes when each of the daughters-in-law has cartons of biscuits kept only for her husband and child and when milk is given only to Meeta and not Krishna, show middle class mentality. This kind of behaviour is common in majority of the households. Giving all the care and attention to your own child and giving secondary treatment is basic human nature. But the way in which Hrishda brings out this streak in his characters is brilliant. The audience will never feel that the daughters-in-law are evil in nature. With the cook gone, the lives of the Sharma family are turned upside down. Brothers reach work late, Daduji is not given food, the clothes are not washed and the house is not cleaned. There is a scene when we see that first Krishna then Shobha slip and fall in front of the kitchen. The patch where the utensils are cleaned is very slippery. This is shows that the house is not taken care of well by the residents especially the womenfolk. The film actually begins when Raghu enters the household uninvited and without any reference. The surprise does not end here. Raghu knows about everyone in the household, is worldly wise and very talkative. He also agrees to work in much lesser amount as salary as compared to the earlier cook. Throughout the film his true identity is a mystery. He keeps mentioning about the different people he has worked for and hence has considerable knowledge

across subjects like Sanskrit, music, poetry, philosophy and mathematics. He comes as breath of fresh air in this boring household. He tries to bring people closer with small initiatives like having tea together in the morning. He also uses his smooth talking skills to break the walls of unnecessary rivalry existing between the brothers. The added advantage is that Raghu is a brilliant cook. He makes great food and then says what he wants to. Many of the times the things that he says are not very pleasant but with a great plate of food in front of them, the characters don’t mind those things. Raghu brings about minute changes in the household which are difficult to miss. Like he gives the evening tea with snacks, he gives milk to Krishna along with Meeta and he also makes special arrangement so that Ram can have his evening drink in style. Specific instances from the film substantiate this. The situation when Ram gets a extension and he just wants to share it with Raghu because he feels that as he is now getting great meals on time everyday Raghu is true reason why he got an extension. But Raghu in his peculiar way of trying to make people talk about their past and hence to relate it to their present. Raghu succeeds in removing the faint traces of animosity between the brothers. Again in this situation Raghu is shown mouthing a very important truth of life ‘happiness multiplies when shared and grief reduces when shared’. Another situation is when Raghu helps Daduji to shatter Meeta’s pride. There also, Raghu says that greatness has to be accompanied by humility. Otherwise it becomes quite useless. These small truths actually encapsulate the meaning of life. Raghu is also shown helping out other members of the family in their respective fields. Like he helps Babbo in composing an original song and he helps Krishna with her studies also. With his entry in the household, we see that there are lots of undercurrents appearing. There is renewed affection between the two daughters-in-law. Again we see Raghu giving instances of

harmonious living in a joint family. Thus he says that, ‘everyone does his/her own job, but the real pleasure is when you do someone else’s job’. The characters are also shown following these things that Raghu says. Another facet of the narrative which needs mention here is that the dialogues of the film are sprinkled with English. We see the characters mouthing dialogues with words like ‘self-respect and idiot’. This done to shoe that those specific characters like Daduji and Kashi are educated and they read English. Whereas Ram who is shown burdened with work and responsibility does not fall in this category. He resorts to alcohol to get rid of his daily troubles. The noticeable fact is that, when he drinks, he sits alone in his room and the others actually avoid him. There are many subtle nuances in the film which clearly bring out a very middle class outlook towards life. When Krishna is taking tuitions from a young man, we see Daduji being present in the room. The family honour is very important for the middle class families. This might stem from the fact that, they don’t have anything else to fall back on. They also don’t have huge amounts of money to cover up for them. Also, we see that many times Seeta is shown asking Krishna to finish the household chores rather than going to college. This shows that in those times, education took a backseat for girls in middle class households. This may not have changed even today for many middle class families. Again the manner in which Daduji stores all his valuables in his house and not in the bank is also very common amongst the middle class elderly. In the beginning of the film we see that the family does not even think about eating together, but later on we see that the whole family assembles to have tea in the morning. They are also shown singing together. This shows that the

family is warming to the fact that they are all together and a part of the same household. Joint family dynamics operate very differently. People are not comfortable with sharing their true feelings even with their own kin. There is constant fear of backstabbing. Again, when they hear certain facts from outsiders like servants, they tend to believe it easily. Also, the feeling of brotherhood emerges strongly only when an outsider’s threat is felt. Respect for individuals be it young or old, is the foundation of any happy family. Also the fact is that we tend to display our true emotions only to our closest family members. And that family disputes many-a-times are superficial and just need a little push from some external agent to solve. All these family values are very characteristic of the middle class. This is so because the reason why the family lives together in a middle class household is very different from those of the upper or lower class. Though there is a level of compulsion involved that is not the only reason. Money is not the most important factor binding them. The family bonds of love and companionship are also very strong. One of the most important family values is of adjustment. This is also a pivotal value of the middle class. The middle class has limited sources of income they also know that the scope for improvement in their lifestyle is very remote. Thus they base their aspirations on their children who they feel will do much better in life than them. They try not to deny their children anything. The children many a times grow up with bigger dreams and the will to achieve them also. This will stems from the fact that they don’t have extra money to feed their dreams. However much we want to deny the fact that money determines the way we live it is one truth that we cannot ignore. These ugly truths when come onscreen are sometimes difficult to digest. Films which tell us this with a hint

of comedy here and a dash of emotion there are the ones which stay with us for a long time.